Integrated assessment for vulnerability to climate change in Germany - a brief overview of methodology and results

Abstract

Within the scope of the German Adaptation Strategy (DAS), a standardized, cross-sector assessment of current and future climate change impacts and vulnerabilities for Germany was carried out from 2011to 2015. For this assessment, an institutional Vulnerability Network was established, composed of sixteen Federal agencies and institutes. Supported by a scientific consortium, the Vulnerability Network developed a collaborative scientific concept for an integrative and spatially explicit assessment. For each pre-defined action field, impact chains were generated as the basis for the selection, prioritization and assessment of indicators. Exposure, sensitivities and adaptive capacities were described by means of quantitative and semi-quantitative approaches, leading to a variety of products at different conceptual levels of aggregation. This paper introduces the methodology pursued for the assessment and then presents some examples illustrating the variety of outcomes produced. The conclusions drawn are based on critical procedural and methodological reflection.